


Beaten in Lips

by literally_no_idea



Series: Decking Howard [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Abuse, Abusive Parents, Canonical Child Abuse, Child Abuse, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Gen, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Howard Stark's Bad Parenting, Verbal Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-18
Updated: 2019-02-18
Packaged: 2019-10-31 03:11:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17841323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/literally_no_idea/pseuds/literally_no_idea
Summary: When Peggy first walks in on Howard berating his son, she’s understandably shocked. She initially wonders why Jarvis had allowed her to come back here in the first place, but when she thinks about it, she understands. Jarvis, by nature of working for Howard, can’t really say or do anything to help Tony. But for Peggy, who’s a close friend but not an employee of Howard’s, she can do what’s necessary.--title comes from the Beartooth song of the same name.





	Beaten in Lips

When Peggy first walks in on Howard berating his son, she’s understandably shocked. She initially wonders why Jarvis had allowed her to come back here in the first place, but when she thinks about it, she understands. Jarvis, by nature of working for Howard, can’t really say or do anything to help Tony. But for Peggy, who’s a close friend but not an employee of Howard’s, she can do what’s necessary.

 

So when she finds Howard yelling at Tony, the 7-year-old boy curled up on the carpet in the corner of the room and flinching every time Howard says something particularly vicious, she knows that she’s going to be the one to step in.

 

“Pathetic,” Howard’s saying, “You’ll never amount to anything, son. Too busy focusing on these toys, these games, when you could be working on technology, on weapons to protect this country! You could be something so good, but instead, you throw your life away on useless ideas, stupid dreams and annoying robots!”

 

“T-They’re not useless,” Tony stammers, flinching when Howard starts to laugh.

 

“Oh, they’re not, are they? So why can’t they perform any of the basic tasks you’ve asked of them, huh? Because I think they’re only as competent as their creator. At least when I worked with Captain America, he had good potential. What have you got, son? Broken robots and no focus? No guts? Terrible. Captain America will always be my only good creation.”

 

Peggy stomps up behind Howard, grabs him by the arm and spins him around to face her before whipping her other arm out and landing a punch to his left eye. The punch drops Howard on his ass, a bruise already forming. “How dare you speak to a child, your  _ son _ , that way! And here I thought you might actually be a decent person.”

 

“Peggy, you don’t understand,” Howard starts, sitting up and reaching for his briefcase, “the boy isn’t even trying to do better-”

 

Peggy snatches the briefcase from him, lifting it up and hitting Howard’s face with perfect accuracy, yielding a beautiful cracking sound. She steps back and drops the briefcase by Howard’s feet, ignoring the great satisfaction she feels at seeing Howard clutch his broken, bleeding nose. “No, you don’t understand, Howard. A boy with Tony’s potential, his intelligence, shouldn’t be treated like some kind of brutish creature, though I suppose you’d have to have some intelligence yourself to know that. You’re expected at SHIELD headquarters. Get your ass off the floor and move.”

 

Peggy turns to Tony, who is still cowering in the corner, and smiles. “Hello Tony. It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Have you taught the bots anything new?” she asks, holding out a hand for Tony to take. He does, standing up and letting Peggy lead him out of the room.

 

“It has been a while, Aunt Peggy, and yeah, I taught one of them how to pick things up last week, but they almost immediately dropped it again,” he says quietly, and Peggy walks him down the hall, back towards the kitchen and Jarvis.

 

“Still, that’s progress! And I’m sure you’ll have them learning to hold and even write things in no time. You’ve always been so smart.”

 

Peggy leaves Tony with Jarvis, heading back to see if Howard’s moved yet. He hasn’t, and Peggy rolls her eyes, picking the man up herself and handing him his briefcase. “You need to leave, Howard. Get out.” She pulls him to the front door herself, opening the door as reporters rush towards them.

 

“Mr. Stark, what’s next for- Mr. Stark, what happened to you? Were you attacked? Were you involved in a fight?”

 

Peggy follows Howard out the front door towards the car waiting for him at the end of the drive. “Yes, Howard, do tell these lovely reporters what happened,” she says, barely managing to keep a straight face, and as the car pulls out of the drive, she waves, making sure to wave with her left hand, a splatter of blood still covering the back of her hand, and she does her best to make that noticeable to the reporters watching.

 

As she turns to head back into the house, the reporters spot Tony lurking in the window and rush to question him. Peggy quickly positions herself between them and the front door, glaring each of the men down in turn, arms crossed, and every reporter turns and rushes off before Peggy can punch one of them, too. Satisfied, Peggy heads to the kitchen to talk to Jarvis, but is stopped by Tony before she can get through the living room.

 

“Aunt Peggy! Aunt Peggy, why did you hit him?” he asks, wide eyed, and Peggy crouches down to talk to him.

 

“Because he has no right to talk to you like that. Not now, not ever, Tony. You’re a brilliant young man, regardless of Howard’s… disgraceful comments.”

 

Tony tilts his head to the side like a confused puppy, frowning. “But Dad says that Captain America-”

 

“I don’t care what he says. I knew Steve personally, and I can promise that you are just as amazing as Steve was, if not better. Steve was smart and kind, but you are so intelligent and caring, Tony, and Steve would see that too. Steve would be ashamed of Howard’s behavior.” Peggy stands back up. “Shall we go talk to Jarvis? I imagine he has some kind of dessert hidden somewhere in that big kitchen of his.”

 

Tony nods and follows her into the kitchen, where Jarvis is waiting with a cup of tea for Peggy and a small plate of cookies for Tony. “Thanks Jarvis!” Tony says as he’s handed the plate, and he rushes over to sit and eat it at the dining room table. Peggy and Jarvis both watch him go, smiling.

 

“Thank you for sending me back there, Jarvis. I know you would have liked to hit Howard yourself,” Peggy says when Tony is out of earshot, and Jarvis hums in agreement.

 

“Yes, without a doubt. Unfortunately, there’s only so much I can do while keeping my job. I can’t protect him the way I’d like to, but I do as much as I can so the boy isn’t alone.” Jarvis sighs, fidgeting with his own cup of tea. “He deserves better.”

 

“Perhaps. But you’re doing the best you can, and with Howard still here, that’s all that can be done. Don’t undersell yourself, you’re a formidable person with a lot of good to offer Tony.” Peggy picks up her cup of tea, holding it up towards Jarvis. “Cheers?”

 

Jarvis smiles, lifting his cup to clink gently against Peggy’s. “Cheers.”


End file.
